Walk-Off Single Pushes Huskers Past Islanders, 13-12

Nebraska climbed back from a three-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth to record its third walk-off win in the last four games on Friday after posting a 13-12 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi behind Leighton Banjoff’s walk-off two-RBI single at Hawks Field.

Nebraska (8-9) scored 13 runs on 12 hits and three errors to extend its win streak to four, while the Islanders (10-10) totaled 12 runs on 11 hits and committed two errors in a game that lasted two minutes short of four hours.

Mason Ornelas improved to 2-0 on the season after pitching 1.2 one-hit innings in relief. Seven Husker pitchers took the mound on Friday night. Koty Frank pitched two innings after replacing the injured Kyle Perry, allowing four runs, one earned, on six hits. Jaxon Jelkin threw a season-high 2.2 innings with a season-high five strikeouts, while Chandler Benson, CJ Hood and Tyler Martin combined for 2.2 innings in relief.

Griffin Everitt was a single shy of hitting for the cycle on Friday, going 3-for-4 with a double, triple, homer, four RBI and three runs. Brice Matthews went 2-for-5 with a double, home run and two RBI, while Max Anderson also had two hits for the Huskers.

The Islanders scored the first two runs of the game with a two-run homer to left by Josh Caraway in the first. Nebraska responded with a two-run shot of its own after Anderson singled and Everitt lifted his fifth homer of the season over the fence in right center.

The Huskers and Islanders each scored a run in the second to make it 3-3 game after Jack Steil singled and later came around to score on an errant throw on the Islanders’ pickoff attempt.

Texas A&M-CC plated three in the third with a bases-loaded walk and two-RBI single up the middle, before Josh Caron’s sacrifice fly brought home Everitt, bringing the score to 6-4 after three.

The teams exchanged two scoreless innings until the Huskers erupted for five runs on three hits in the sixth to grab a 9-6 advantage. Anderson’s RBI single to left center brought the Huskers within one, while Everitt drilled a two-RBI triple off the wall in left center to give the Huskers a 7-6 lead. Matthews followed Everitt by blasting a 1-1 pitch over the fence in right center for a two-run shot, stretching the Nebraska lead to 9-6.

A fielder’s choice and a Husker error allowed the Islanders to score their first two runs of the seventh before adding two more on bases-loaded walks to re-take the lead at 10-9. Texas A&M-CC tacked on two more in the eighth with a two-RBI single through the right side to make it a 12-9 game heading into the ninth inning.

Ornelas drew a flyout and groundout before getting his second strikeout of the game to keep the Islanders at 12 going into the bottom of the ninth.

Matthews opened the bottom of the ninth with a double down the left field line and later scored on a wild pitch with one out to bring the Huskers within two. Cam Chick drew a walk and Colby Gomes was hit by the pitch to put runners on first and second with two outs. Luke Sartori came into the game to pinch-run for Gomes, followed by Core Jackson roping a pinch-hit RBI double down the left field line to score Chick and make it a 12-11 game. In the next at-bat, Banjoff lined a two-RBI single to left, plating Sartori and Jackson to give the Huskers their third walk-off win in four games.

First pitch between the Huskers and Islanders is set for 2:05 p.m. tomorrow at Hawks Field.